


From My Drowning Heart

by rowofstars



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: A Monthly Rumbelling, AU Season 6, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Past Relationship(s), Prompt Fic, Runaway Bride, Season 6 Parallels, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-21 14:42:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,197
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11946426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: The bride who ran away comes home. For the prompt “runaway bride” at @a-monthly-rumbelling





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I only sort of know what this is or where it’s going. I need another WIP like I need another hole in my head, but here we are. This is a hot mess because it’s un-beta’d so point out what I fucked up.

Gold peered over the rim of his mug, his eyes moving up from the newspaper he was mindlessly leafing through to the front door of Granny’s diner as it swung open. That was why he always liked the corner booth, he could see and know everything that was going on around him. His gaze landed on the petite, brunette woman shrugging out of her coat by the door. Her tall heels clicked loudly against the checkered floor as she crossed to the counter, her smile wide and bright as she embraced the diner’s owner, Martha Lucas.

He almost dropped his coffee, his breath rushing out of him like he’d been punched in the gut. Ruby came out from the kitchen, squealing with delight as she joined the hugging, and he felt like a voyeur as he watched them. She turned towards him, and he ducked down, making himself very interested in the newspaper again. After a moment he glanced up, but she was engrossed in laughing and conversing with others who were clearly pleased by her presence.

He had never expected to see her again, but here she was, looking even more beautiful than the well-worn memories he’d held close for the last three years. The last time he’d seen her, she’d been walking away, her dress held up in her clenched fists, her veil fluttering in the breeze.

A pang of regret stabbed at his heart as he swallowed against the lump in his throat. In his mind there was a stack of letters he’d written to her and never sent, each one a different explanation, a different apology, a different road they might have taken. He took a bracing sip of his coffee and stood, folding the newspaper back together before tucking it under his arm. As he passed by the group, he caught the sparkle off the ring on her left hand as she brushed back her hair, and had to bite the inside of his cheek.

Gold stepped out into the brisk, early spring air, and headed down the street towards his shop. His hand squeezed the handle of his cane tightly, the edges of the metal digging into his palm. He wished he could pretend he didn’t care, that her being back didn’t matter, that seeing her smiling face wasn’t the sweetest torture he could imagine. But his heart had been lost to Belle French years ago, and seeing her again reminded him that there were wounds even time couldn’t heal.

There was, however, a magic potion - a bottle of scotch that could make him forget, at least for a little while.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Belle turned and watched Gold walk by the wide front window of the diner. She had thought she’d noticed him when she first came in, sitting in his usual corner booth with his coffee and the newspaper spread out. He glanced up, and for a moment it was like the last three years hadn’t happened. Her feet almost carried her over to his table, as if she could just slide in across from him, knowing smiles and teasing grins between them like they hadn’t come here from the same house and the same bed.

She took a deep breath and swore she could still smell him, spicy aftershave with a hint of leather and paper, that comforting old book smell that the pawn shop had. Her heart sighed and she bit her lip. There was an itch in her legs, an urge to follow after him, to say - what? What hadn’t already been said between them? He wouldn’t want to see her again anyway, not after everything that had happened between them.

The laughter of her friends brought her back to herself, and she sniffed, rubbing at her nose nonchalantly as she turned back to the group. Ruby fawned over her ring again, and she forced a smile. Seeing Gold made her feel like running away all over again, like getting back in the car and telling her fiance to floor it until the Welcome to Storybrooke sign was fading in the rearview mirror.

Belle closed her eyes as Ruby and Ariel went into the back, laughing. She could still hear the rustle of satin and tulle, and the sharp clip of her heels as she hurried away from the church, tears stinging her eyes and ruining her makeup. She’d run from the one thing she couldn’t stand, from people trying to decide her fate, but that had also meant leaving behind a piece of her heart. A piece that was perhaps larger than she’d thought.

Not for the first time she wished there was a way she could forget, just for a little while, to pack away the memories and stuff them in the attic along with the dress and shoes and veil. Still, there had always been more good than bad, and that was perhaps part of the problem. She could forgive Cameron Gold so many things, if only he’d asked and meant it. But she wasn’t sure he could ever forgive her.

She took a sip of the ice tea Granny set in front of her and sighed. She was going to need something far stronger to make it through this week.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belle runs away again, and so does Gold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I changed the rating, because I know me and there’s only one place this can go, and I have plans. At the time I started this, I had no idea where it was or if it was going. It was just a momentary one-shot thing. I should know me better by now, right? So I think I have the backstory decided, though there is still some wiggle room on the finer details. I’d like to keep the chapters shorter, since that makes my brain plan better, at least where fics like this are concerned, and if I put this out for prompts it means I can make them fit easier. I hope that’s okay with everyone? :)

Belle stumbled as the heel of her shoe sunk into the mud and stuck. The strap around her ankle slipped, but the buckle caught, digging into her ankle. She lurched forward, grabbing the post of the road sign and almost spun herself around. The wind gusted and wobbled the sign back and forth, throwing rain in her face.

_Leaving Storybrooke._

She was running again.

This time it was for completely different reasons, but that didn’t make it any better. She was a two-time runaway bride and there was no coming back from it. It might as well be stamped on her forehead for everyone to see. She left one man she loved at the altar, and almost married a man she didn’t love at all. 

Well, she _thought_ she loved him.

Then she made the terrible mistake of coming back to Storybrooke, of thinking that it was possible to get married in the only place that ever felt like home. She hadn’t counted on seeing Gold again, and of course once she had that had changed everything. In one instant it all had come back, the sunny day, the smell of the flowers, and way her dress made that soft swish sound when she walked.

Her reasons were sound at the time, she wouldn’t marry someone she didn’t trust, and Gold had broken it too many times to be forgiven again. But that didn’t make her feel less awful, or erase the sound of his desperate voice calling out to her. In that instant, she believed he loved her, really truly loved her, and that their relationship was more than a byproduct of another deal. The pain was too sharp then, so she ran. Even now every memory she had of that day was a pile of what-ifs saturated with regret.

Belle sniffled and wiped her hand across her nose, feeling the sticky smudge of tears and mucus and ruined makeup. The wind howled and pushed at her skirts, bunching them around her legs. She tripped again and just barely caught herself on the guardrail, her palm pressing against the metal edge, the cold stinging her flesh. She cried out and then fell to her knees, the ground squelching under her weight.

Wetness seeped into her dress, ruining the fabric and lace, and making it cling to her stockings. She closed her eyes and a broken sob escaped, but she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth to prevent any more. It took her a moment to collect herself, but once she had she realized she’d run out of town in her wedding dress, and had nowhere to go. It was like a scene from some cliche romance novel, a dramatic page ripped from Austin, except there was no Mr. Darcy walking through the rain to find her.

Her whole body sighed and sagged, and she thought about just laying down and letting herself roll into the ditch, wondering how long it would be until someone found her. A sound from behind her made her turn around, using the guard rail to push herself to her feet.

A black car rumbled towards her, the headlights blinding her as she tried to get out of the way. She almost fell backwards over the guardrail to get away from it, but the vehicle quickly slowed and pulled over to the shoulder of the road. Her stomach sank and a sick, terrified feeling twisted her gut as the car came to a stop.

The window rolled down and Belle staggered again in the soggy roadside. She bit her lip, looking up and down the road, wondering where she could possibly go to escape this moment, but it was impossible. She looked at the car again, biting her tongue to keep from making a sound as her eyes moved from the door, up to the open window, and finally to the face of its driver.

Gold’s mouth fell open as he leaned into the passenger seat. “ _Belle?_ ”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

For the next four days, Gold kept to himself as much as possible. He sent Mr. Dove to make the rounds collecting rent, and went only between his house to the pawn shop. He starting using the old coffee pot in the back workroom, and even tipped Ruby extra to deliver his lunch so he could avoid encountering Belle at Granny’s again. It seemed a bit childish, but he reasoned that it was better for both of them if they just pretended they’d never seen each other at all. 

Memories left in the past. Emotions buried. Status quo maintained.

He learned that she was back for her wedding. It was a bit of a shock, though he'd noticed the ring, that she would come back here for the event, though he knew how hard it was to leave behind the place you thought of as home. Her father and friends still lived here, so he supposed she might as well, his feelings be damned. Her fiance’s name was Gary or Gareth or something, and the whole thing seemed to be happening rather quickly. 

There was a an evening spent wondering why their engagement had been only two months, according to Leroy, but he wasn't in any sort of denial. His brain circulated enough what-ifs to dispel any lies he might tell himself about not caring that the woman he loved was marrying someone else. He'd found out quite accidentally from Dr. Hopper, that it was taking place today, Saturday, and despite the fact that all he had to do was stay in his shop or his house, he felt compelled him to be anywhere but Storybrooke.

At first, he thought about driving down to Boston, maybe catching a plane to New York, and seeing Neal. But the last time he’d dropped in unexpectedly on his son, the visit hadn’t gone well, and his desire to stay in his son’s good graces far outweighed wanting more miles between him and Belle’s wedding. There was something sort of cruelly poetic in the fact that it was he who was running away this time, even if it was for different reasons. 

Truthfully, Gold could never find fault with Belle or her actions. She could have stayed and listened to his explanation, but ultimately, he had been up to his old ways again and broken her trust. Did it really matter if he’d done it to protect her, or if he’d do it all again just the same? That was the sort of bastard he was, and she deserved far better. He wouldn’t begrudge her any happiness, even if it wasn’t with him, but he still wanted to be hidden away at his cabin when the moment came and the bells called out from the old church.

Sighing, he guided his Cadillac around the corner where the speed limit changed and Main Street became the highway, on the way out of town. He started to speed up, when he noticed something on the side of the road. He frowned, angling his car towards the shoulder and the billowing white object. The windshield wipers squeaked, and suddenly he saw a person - a woman in a white dress - and he hit the brakes as swiftly, but gently, as he could.

The window streaked as it rolled down, wet from the rain, and his heart started pounding as he leaned over. His eyes went wide as the woman met his gaze, looking every bit like a frightened, trapped animal. His mind kept telling him it couldn’t be, that this was not happening. It was all some whiskey induced dream he’d wake up from, alone in his cabin, to find it was Sunday and he’d drunk the weekend away. But the spray of cold rain that hit him through the open window felt very real.

His brow furrowed and he hesitated, wanting to reach out to her, but thinking better of it. He open his mouth and barely managed, “ _Belle?_ ”


End file.
